


Being Seen

by Thia (Jennaria)



Category: Kamen Rider Kabuto
Genre: Asian Character, Chromatic Source, Dark Agenda Challenge, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 19:05:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennaria/pseuds/Thia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's only one thing Kageyama wants from Yaguruma. Spoilers to episode 13.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being Seen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cestlavieminako](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cestlavieminako).



They hadn't been given a choice. They were the best, said the anonymous voice on the phone, so they were to be examined for possible inclusion in a new team. Come in and suit up.

(Shun had heard rumors that with the new Masked Rider System, the armor actually formed _around_ you, no need to change clothes. That wasn't the main reason he dreamed, very privately, of being chosen to become a Rider himself, but it was one more thing to add to the list.)

So he'd gone in, and kept a smile on his face as he changed into the armor, and listened to the guys around him in the locker room to see if anyone knew why they'd been called in. Nobody did: the only thing he heard was speculation from the newer recruits. Shun kept his own mouth shut, and when the first few headed for the door, he followed.

A man in suit and tie was waiting for them, anonymous and impersonal. He led them to the same kind of large, empty room that Shun had seen dozens of times before, and lined them up in ranks, and glared at the stragglers who hadn't even put on their helmets yet. One final look, as if to be certain they were all there, then he left without saying anything.

Shun kept his back straight and his chin up. _The best,_ they'd been told. _A new team._ He had to look like he deserved this. He couldn't let his curiosity get away from him. He'd done what he had to do, and he'd been noticed. Mishima-san had remembered him. Maybe there was finally something better on the way.

So Shun stood very straight and waited. Even when he heard footsteps approaching, he didn't let himself look around: the helmets had no peripheral vision, so he couldn't without being obvious. Then he saw who it was, and relaxed a little. It was Mishima-san, eyes cold behind his glasses as always, and someone else that Shun didn't recognize: tall, handsome, sure of himself, as if he thought the world would reshape itself around him to suit his needs.

Mishima stopped in front of the group, and pivoted slowly to gesture toward them. "Here you are, Yaguruma-san. These are the men who qualified for Shadow."

"Excellent," Yaguruma said, and he looked at them and actually smiled, a real smile as if he was pleased to see _them_. Shun hadn't seen one of those since he was a boy. "Please, take off your helmets."

There was a moment of startled silence from everyone. Then the guy to Shun's left reached up and took off his helmet. Then another guy, then Shun himself, and another, like a ripple through the ranks. Shun raised his head from taking off the helmet to look up at this man who wanted to see their faces, and saw him looking back at them all, with that same real smile.

But it was Shun he walked over to first. "What's your name?"

"Kageyama," Shun said, snapping to absolute attention and forcing his eyes straight forward again. He was the best, he reminded himself. He'd been chosen. It didn't matter how he got here. "Kageyama Shun. Um...sir." What was he supposed to call his new captain?

Yaguruma-san chuckled a little, and said, "At ease. This is only a beginning. We still must find our Kanzen Chouwa together." Shun could hear the capital letters on the words.

"Kanzen Chouwa, sir?" the guy next to Shun asked.

Yaguruma-san turned to answer, and for just a moment, Shun hated his teammate with a unexpected fury that he forced down immediately. He was part of the team, now.

But he liked Yaguruma-san's focus on him, even if it was just for a moment. Somehow, he promised himself, he'd find a way to get it back. He looked up under his lashes, and watched Yaguruma-san's smile. Under this guy's leadership, they really would be the best. And he would be there for it.

*

Shun leaned back against the wall, listening to Misaki's low-voiced report to Tadokoro-san. Another Shadow member dead. _Damn you._ The Worm still there when they went to investigate. And Yaguruma appearing in time to save both her and Kagami.

It was inevitable, he reminded himself. If Yaguruma-san _was_ selling out Shadow to the Worm, of course he wouldn't want it to become obvious so quickly. And if he _wasn't_ the traitor...even after what had happened with Kabuto and Yaguruma's precious Kanzen Chouwa being smashed, the Yaguruma he'd known wasn't the sort of guy who'd turn his back on his team.

Either way, he had to be careful. If Yaguruma-san saw him, he'd realize --

Shun pushed away from the wall and left the room without looking back. He had to see Yaguruma-san sooner or later. It was better to choose his time.

He stepped outside into the sunlight, and froze. Yaguruma-san was leaning against the railing, only a few feet away, not looking at anything in particular. He didn't have that air any more, like he knew the world would shape itself around him, but the quivering tension just beneath the surface that Shun remembered from the last few hospital visits was gone as well.

He'd been waiting for Shun. Shun took a breath and let it out, then stepped forward.

Yaguruma pushed away from the railing, and inclined his head. "Kageyama."

"Yaguruma-san."

"You're doing well. I was glad to hear that you are safe."

"Of course," Shun said, and found the old warmth and weakness for this man rising up. He let it, so it would shine in his eyes and voice where Yaguruma would expect to see and hear it. "Tadokoro-san and his team aren't usually on the front lines."

"That's not what I meant." Yaguruma turned away, with a glance as if to ask Shun to follow, and walked away toward the riverwalk, not far away. Shun followed, hurrying to catch up. "Perhaps you haven't heard," Yaguruma added as they walked. "The members of Shadow are being singled out and attacked by a Worm."

The wail of a passing train's horn gave Shun the excuse not to answer immediately. Of course he'd heard. Tadokoro-san's team was the one heading the investigation. But protesting like that would be grandstanding, showing off, and Yaguruma had never tolerated that. Instead Shun turned to face Yaguruma and said, "Shadow members are being eliminated one by one?" as if not believing what he'd heard.

Yaguruma's eyes dropped, as if ashamed to admit it was happening. Then he shifted, leaning back against the railing here in the same position he'd waited for Shun. "I will protect my comrades' lives. That is Perfect Harmony." He glanced over at Shun, a quick shift of the eyes and away, as if he expected to be dismissed. "The mentality of Kanzen Chouwa."

But Perfect Harmony had broken, and his Kanzen Chouwa had failed. He had looked straight at Kageyama and yet he didn't say, _I'm sure you're doing your best,_ or _of course you know all this,_ or most simple of all, _I see that you've become a Rider._ He didn't see. Perhaps he couldn't see. Unless Yaguruma was lying, but Shun didn't believe that. Yaguruma might be playing a deep game, but he'd never been the sort to let things lie unspoken. Otherwise he'd have lasted longer as TheBee.

"Yaguruma-san!" Shun took a half-step forward, and remembered how it felt to worship this man so he would sound convincing. If Yaguruma didn't know...if he wasn't the traitor, he could still be bait. "I knew you were the only leader for Shadow! Please, please come back!"

"Kageyama..." Yaguruma hesitated a moment, pushing away from the railing again. "But Shadow is already..." Another half-second hesitation. "And I also..."

"I'll gather everyone," Shun said immediately. "When everyone hears that Yaguruma had returned, I'm sure they'll come!" He wanted to laugh. He was the one who'd make sure everyone would come, not Yaguruma. He was the one with the power, the one who was a Rider. This was their true relation now. Even if Yaguruma couldn't see him, _he_ could see _Yaguruma_. And before this was over, he'd _make_ Yaguruma see him.

-end-


End file.
